Victor Wembanyama may have had the best rookie year in NBA history. With a 22–60 record, the San Antonio Spurs placed 14th in the Western Conference, but his performance was a bright light in an otherwise disappointing season. Despite the challenges they face, Wembanyama is an exceptional team player.

This past summer, Drake performed in Austin, Texas, and the San Antonio Spurs power forward allegedly rejected going on stage with the OVO rapper. JJ Redick recently shared this tale during an interview on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast.

Drakes’s team declined Wembanyama’s request to have his teammates on stage. 

“There was a Drake concert in Austin, and [Wembanyama] got asked to come up onstage ’cause Drake was doing that with a bunch of NBA guys this offseason,” Redick said. “And Wemby was like, ‘Can my teammates come up onstage with me? ‘Cause they are going to be at the concert with me.’ And Drake’s camp was like, ‘No.’ And [Wemby’s] like, ‘Then I don’t want to do it.’”

“What 19-year-old kid doesn’t want to go up onstage with Drake?” he questioned.

According to Complex, it was Redick who praised Wemby for being able to embrace the hype without inflating his ego during his rookie season. After attending a Texas stop on the It’s All a Blur tour in 2023, he heard an anecdote strengthening his game.

Drake and Wembanyama met in Austin in September for a two-night stint at the Moody Center. Several weeks after the event, Wemby took to Instagram to share a series of photos he had taken before his NBA debut; one of those snaps showed him posing next to the Toronto artist. 

After averaging 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists during the 2023-24 season, he has established himself as a strong candidate for Rookie of the Year. Due to his performance on the court, Wembanyama has also garnered lucrative endorsement deals with brands such as Nike, Fanatics, Barcode and Louis Vuitton.